Education

If you are a teacher or student, we offer a variety of online resources and range of services to assist your exploration of Ireland’s military past.

The Military Archives is committed to promoting access to primary sources to assist classroom teaching and to show students the value of using historical source material. Research shows that the study of historical records improves reading, analytical thinking, writing and presentation skills.  Schools and archives can be brought together in many ways including exhibitions, visits, lesson plans which demand archival research, extracurricular school based activities (such as history clubs and debating societies) and the establishment of organisational links between schools and archives services. 

In autumn 2015, we enjoyed a collaboration with the 1916 letters project, An Foras Feasa (Maynooth University) and individual members of the Irish History Teachers Association on the development of 1916 Rising themed lesson plans which relied upon the use of primary sources including the Bureau of Military History, the Military Service Pensions collection and a selection of 1916 letters which were digitally curated and presented by the 1916 letters project. ICT was key to the utility of many lesson plans but options for document based learning were also built into the lesson plan framework to assist schools that had limited internet or computer lab access. Themes included the final days and execution of 1916 Leaders, the women involved in Easter week, 1916 Court Martials and the court case of Sir Roger Casement and internment following the collapse of the Rising and the roundup of men and women involved. The 1916 In Transition project was funded by the Department of Education and Skills and the Irish Research Council and formed part of the Ireland 2016 centenary programme for the education sector as a designed module for Transition year.

Because archivists are the guardians of the nuts and bolts of history (primary sources), we are in a terrific position to play an instrumental role in enhancing the education of our young people. Guided use of primary sources in education can have an empowering effect on students and can improve the quality of research in archives reading rooms

Marcus C. Robyns, ‘The Archivist as Educator […]’, The American Archivist, Vo. 4 (Fall/Winer 2001)

Commandant Padraic Kennedy with students of CBS, Drimnagh at the opening of exhibition “The Artists Rising”, April 2016. Students of various year groups worked with the 1916 In Transition lesson plans.